I Wish (Skee-Lo song)
}} }} "I Wish" is a single by Skee-Lo released by Scotti Bros. as his only single. In the United States, the track peaked at #13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was certified Gold by the RIAA and sold 600,000 copies domestically. Internationally, "I Wish" reached #15 in the UK and #4 in Sweden and Norway. Most of the song's instruments are sampled from "Spinnin by Bernard Wright, and the song features a vocal sample of people shouting from the track "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren. The song was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards but lost to "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio. Blender listed "I Wish" as #359 on its list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". The music video, directed by Marty Thomas, was nominated for three Billboard Music Video Awards including "Best New Artist Music Video" and "Maximum Vision Clip of the Year".Billboard Music Video Awards Nominations Confirmation - Billboard Magazine November 4, 1995 page 20 Overview The song's lyrics are self-deprecating, with Skee-Lo lamenting a variety of personal shortcomings that he says are to blame for his unsuccessful love life. He wishes he were of taller stature ("like 6'9") and a basketball player ("a baller"). He wishes for a better car, specifically a '64 Impala, instead of his 1974 Ford Pinto with "an 8-Track and a spare tire in the backseat, but that's flat!" The lyrics also mention the Los Angeles neighborhood of Crenshaw, and a signpost featuring the street name appears in the background of the music video. In other media *The Secret Handshake did a cover of this song on Punk Goes Crunk. *In As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Pt. 2, 2manydjs superimposed the vocals of "I Wish" over Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", then The Breeders' "Cannonball" . *Far East Movement did a cover of this song for the 2008 film Ping Pong Playa. *"I Wish" is also featured as one of the lyrical tracks from Girl Talk's album All Day, on the track "Jump on Stage". *Rapper MC Lars parodied the chorus of this song on his 2007 track "White Kids Aren't Hyphy"https://genius.com/Mc-lars-white-kids-arent-hyphy-lyrics *Skee-Lo appeared with Cher Lloyd on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in November 2013, performing portions of "I Wish" along with her single "I Wish". *Kevin Hart and Ice Cube released a remix of this song with NBA players Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Andre Iguodala, and Kobe Bryant appearing in the video to advertise Hart and Cube's movie Ride Along. It appeared on the NBA on ESPN and ABC during their Christmas Day coverage. *Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake did a cover of this song in the History of Rap 5 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. *The song was featured on an episode "All I Want for Christmas is You" of ''Hindsight. *The song was featured in The Simpsons episode "22 for 30." *The song was featured in Lizzie McGuire Season 2, Episode 25 “A Gordo Story” *The song was featured in the trailer for the 2019 film Honeyboy starring Shia LaBeouf. Charts Weekly charts End of year charts Certifications References External links * "Skee-Lo - I Wish Lyrics" (Fixed version) * Category:1995 singles Category:Debut singles Category:Skee-Lo songs Category:1993 songs Category:Novelty songs Category:Songs about Los Angeles Category:Songs written by Anne Dudley Category:Songs written by Trevor Horn